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AUTHOR ARCHIVES

Richard H.P. Sia

May 3, 2013
Since the United States first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, a signature goal of the war has been to increase the size of Afghan national security forces and give their members the skills to vanquish domestic terrorist groups and other security threats on their own. But as the Obama...

December 12, 2003
While some European officials are fuming at U.S. plans to reserve $18.6 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts for allies who risked lives there, several U.S. lawmakers are upset that the Bush administration is buying European-made handguns to arm fledgling security forces in Iraq. At least three lawmakers, including House Armed...

December 9, 2003
The Washington, D.C., area has its share of excess military infrastructure, some of which could prove ripe for trimming during the Defense Department's upcoming round of base closures. One vulnerable facility is Bolling Air Force Base, an analysis of the final fiscal 2004 military construction appropriations bill shows. So far,...

December 8, 2003
The $9.3 billion, fiscal 2004 military construction spending bill President Bush recently signed into law promises more than improvements in readiness, housing and health care for U.S. troops and their families. For dozens of communities across the country, the bill represents a multimillion-dollar investment in the future of their local...

October 22, 2003
The Transportation Security Administration has reaffirmed its decision to have German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch supply as many as 9,600 .40-caliber handguns to U.S. commercial airline pilots who complete federal law enforcement training under the agency's guns-in-cockpits program. A contract of three one-year options to supply H&K USP40 Compact...

July 30, 2003
The Transportation Security Administration is reconsidering its recent decision to arm U.S. commercial airline pilots with German-made Heckler & Koch handguns, only a few days after House Small Business Chairman Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., inquired about the agency's method of choosing a supplier, according to congressional and gun industry sources. The...

July 18, 2003
The Transportation Security Administration has selected the German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch to supply the .40-caliber semiautomatic handguns the agency will use to train and arm commercial airline pilots. A company spokesman confirmed the contract award Friday. TSA notified bidders by fax late Thursday. TSA officials were unable to...

July 16, 2003
Through a series of missteps, the Transportation Security Administration has run afoul of the world's leading gun manufacturers in an attempt to award a three-year, $5 million contract for the semiautomatic handguns it plans to give commercial airline pilots to defend their cockpits. The agency drew the heaviest fire after...

July 9, 2003
The agency responsible for training airline pilots to defend their cockpits with semiautomatic handguns said it will move its training program from Georgia to a remote desert site in New Mexico after Labor Day, a decision that triggered angry protests Tuesday by House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John...

June 19, 2003
The Air Force announced Wednesday that the 100 new KC-767 airborne refueling tankers it wants to lease from the Boeing Co. will be assigned to air wings based in Washington state, North Dakota and Florida. The announcement not only helps protect their bases from the next military base-closing round in...